


Tender and Semi-Sweet Love

by quinnlocke



Series: Recipes for Love and Disaster [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Awkward Flirting, First Dates, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-01-31 14:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12683763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quinnlocke/pseuds/quinnlocke
Summary: Tendou has been smitten with the mysterious stranger who has been coming to Suga Sweets every morning.He finally decides to get his attention, in all the worst possible ways.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> To Snow,
> 
> Thank you for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and for always being there with whatever words I needed.

“Somebody save your soul 'cause you've been sinning in this city, I know,” Satori Tendou sang loudly to Koushi Sugawara while they mixed fruit compote. “Too many troubles, all these lovers got you losing control. You're like a drug to me, a luxury, my _Suga_ and gold.” 

Suga shook his head but refused to smile at Tendou’s antics. Tendou was never one to be deterred and incorporated a dance into his singing, banging the spoon into the bowl in tune with the music. “'Cause you don't even know. I can make your hands clap. Said I can make your hands clap.”

“You are going to make my hand smack you if you keep that up.”

“Mmmm gimme some sugar baby,” Tendou replied with a wink, earning an eye roll from Suga.

“Stop making puns with my name!”

Their bickering was cut short when the alarm on Tendou’s phone went off. Tendou looked up at the clock and smiled brightly. Ten minutes to six, which meant it was time to open the doors and wait in anticipation for his favorite moment of the day. 

For the last three months at exactly 6:10 am every weekday Suga Sweets is graced with the presence of Tendou’s favorite customer. Suga sighed knowing that he would have to listen to an hour of Tendou talking about how beautiful he is, how he would do anything to get a smile from him, and oh Suga what do I do to get him to notice me.

Tendou unlocked the front door, flipped the open sign and returned to the back room to put the compote he was mixing into a container to be labelled and stored. His head perked up at the sound of the front door chime. He and Suga locked eyes over the baking table in front of them and Suga made to move towards the doorway to the front counter. Tendou tripped over his own feet in his haste to be the one to make it to the register first.

They scuffled for a moment and Tendou realized too late that Suga had planned for this and slammed with an _oof_ into the counter. He stared at the hands resting on the counter, long fingers graced with silver rings, studded bracelets around wrists and a tattoo of an abstract crane along the right arm. He looked up sheepishly and nearly sighed in joy at the sight in front of him.

Tall, dark, and handsome didn’t even begin to describe the man. His toffee eyes were always lined in black, accentuated by the arch of his perfect brows. His ashen hair had black tips, and while it was consistently messy, somehow it framed his long face perfectly. His lips were regularly set in a pout that made Tendou weak. He ordered the same thing every morning, a triple shot espresso with one sugar and a splash of milk. Tendou was head over heels for him.

“Good morning!” he said brightly. “Triple espresso coming up!”

The stranger nodded but his expression never changed. It never did. Not even when Tendou had flipped the steamer on by mistake ‘cause he was staring did the man’s expression once flicker from complete disinterest. Tendou presented him with his coffee and did a double take when instead of cash he was handed a credit card. Not once has the stranger ever given his card.

“Ummm it’s a one dollar service fee for anything under five dollars,” Tendou informed him while also trying to sneak a peek at the card in his hand for a chance to see the stranger's name. The stranger cocked his head to the side and sighed. He put his espresso back on the counter.

“Don’t have cash,” he said and gestured for his card back. Tendou returned it and watched the stranger turn before he yelled.

“Wait! Loyal customer bonus!” he said holding out the coffee. “After three months of loyal service you get a free coffee!”

The stranger tilted his head and gave him a small smile before taking the cup. “Thank you Tendou.” 

Tendou let out a happy sigh and slumped backwards with untamed joy. “Suga! He knows my name!”

“I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that it's stitched on your apron,” Suga called back to him. Tendou skipped back into the prep room with a wide grin.

“He wasn’t looking at my apron when he said it,” Tendou declared happily. “He’s so beautiful.”

Suga threw a towel at his head and started rolling out dough for biscuits. “You say that everyday he comes in here.”

“He knows my name though. Maybe he’s noticed my interest.”

“He’d notice your interest more if you tried talking to him.”

“I have tried!” Tendou scoffed. 

“Asking him about the weather doesn’t count as trying to talk to him.”

“What do you think he does for a living? Its gotta be a job where he can have tattoos and piercings. Have you seen the ones in his ear?”

“Yes Tendou, and the eyebrow ring, and the nose ring that he got rid of a month after he started showing up. You told him he looked less like a cow,” Suga repeated back, his tone verging on annoyed. “Maybe that’s one of the reasons you can’t get him to talk to or actually acknowledge you.”

Tendou pouted and pulled a tray of tarts from the oven and began transferring them to a cooling rack. “I thought that was funny.”

“There are very few people who share your sense of humor.”

“ _You_ share my sense of humor.”

“Don’t remind me,” Suga grinned.

Tendou held up a ladle and studied his hair. He’d had the same bowl cut since high school. “Do you think I should try and style my hair?”

Suga looked up and brushed his own hair from his eyes and gave him a discerning look. “You could do with a new style I suppose.”

“I think I know how to get him to notice me.”

“If you give yourself a mohawk you are fired.”

“I own half this place!”

***

Tendou had spent most of his free time over the next few days looking at different hairstyles online and trying to figure out what, if anything, he could do to improve his. He still smiled for the handsome stranger each morning and still whined to Suga for at least an hour about how hot he was.

His inspiration for how to fix his own terrible hairstyle arrived one late evening, when a wild haired customer showed up in the late evening for one of their famous granny smith tarts.

“What? No, no you can’t be sold out, I have to have one! This is my last stop and I _have_ to have one. I’m on a mission and I can’t come back tomorrow because it's not on my route and I planned these routes perfectly, you’ve got to have one left in the back somewhere. Did you check the back of the oven?”

Suga was manning the counter, he laughed and shook his head. “It would probably be burnt if that happened. I have plenty of other flavors to choose from.”

“No, I can’t, it has to be apple. My apple tarts are broken and I have to fix them. And the only way to fix them is by consuming all the other apple desserts and learning what makes them good!”

Suga and Tendou both shared a look and the wild stranger continued on. “Kenji Kozushi hated my tarts! I have to fix my tarts so Kenji Kozushi can come back and enjoy them!”

“The food critic?”

“Yes, and now he probably will never come to my restaurant again and I’ll never get to meet him because my tarts aren’t worth the hype surrounding them,” the owlish man whined, laying his head on the counter.

Tendou came towards the counter and grabbed Suga’s elbow to get his attention. “That’s an energy crash,” he said. Suga pursed his lips and sighed. “You remember the one I had back in law school.”

Their energy crash incarnate of a customer was eventually helped to his feet by one of their regulars, Akaashi. Tendou watched in awe as they conversed, left together and was further flabbergasted when they kissed on the sidewalk while waiting for a cab.

“Suga,” he said watching as the couple left. “Think I could do my hair like that?”

“With some wood glue and a prayer maybe.”

***

Suga stared at Tendou when he walked into the kitchen. “Uhhhh,” he said, voice trailing off as he stared open mouthed in shock.

“Don’t say a word,” Tendou warned. The spikes he’d attempted to put into his hair hung limply, their pointed ends so full of gel the weight kept them from standing up straight. “I spent nearly an hour trying to make this work.”

“Maybe you should have gotten up a little earlier.”

“No offense Suga, but fuck off,” Tendou retorted, ignoring the none too subtle chuckles of his best friend. When the alarm on his phone went off he didn’t even bother rushing off to unlock the door. Suga heaved a sigh, unlocked the door and returned to set about covering the bench in flour. The door chimed and Tendou flinched.

“Go on,” Suga said with a patronizing tone. “Your shift on the register runs until eight.”

Tendou glared and stalked off towards the front counter, keeping his gaze down. “Good morning,” he mumbled and walked off towards the espresso machine.

“You’re using the wrong kind of gel.”

Tendou turned around wide eyed and thought for a moment there was a beam of heavenly light shining through the windows. Until the headlights of the car passed by and they were left in the semi-darkness of the early dawn. 

“You’re using a low intensity gel,” the stranger continued, “for the style you are trying to achieve you need either a high hold gel, or you should look into wax or pomade.”

Tendou wordlessly handed the cup to Tall, Dark, and Knowledgeable on hair products.

“Suga,” Tendou whined once he was sure they were alone again.

“Yes I know, you’re in love.”

“Yes, but more importantly. Can I go use your shower to get this shit out of my hair?”

***

It had taken several google searches, many failed attempts, and one successful trip to a stylist; but Tendou’s hair now stood up in glorious spikes and he could not get over how good the change made him feel. 

“What if I pierced my ears,” Tendou loudly asked, a week or so later. Pretty Boy, as he had now been dubbed for lack of a name, had just left and Tendou noticed he’d changed the hoops in his ears. They’d been silver for months and were now jet black, matching the double helix he’d gotten done shortly after he became a regular customer.

“You should totally get your ears pierced,” Suga replied with a laugh. “Everyone knows the trick to getting someone to give you their number is piercing your ears in a sign of misconstrued solidarity.”

“So if I show up to work tomorrow with pierced ears you think he’ll notice?”

“Completely!”

***

“Tendou,” Suga remarked four days later. “I think you might have an infection.”

Tendou resisted the urge to scratch at his ears. He’d let the piercings rest for two days before changing out the boring posts they’d put in for the rainbow colored metal hoops he’d snagged from a display rack. 

“I’ve been cleaning them every day,” he replied, head tilting as though it would alleviate the itch and burn. “It’s probably temporary you know. Like when Noya got his nipples pierced and he let Tanaka chest bump him only a few days later.”

“Noya’s nipples looked nothing like your ears do right now. I’m hesitant to even let you serve customers.”

They were interrupted by the sound of the front door chiming and before Suga could protest Tendou was off and running. He bounced up to the counter with a manic grin, waiting for Pretty Boy to look up and see…

“You have a nickel allergy,” he said, eyes immediately looking at Tendou’s ears. 

“I do?”

“Those hoops, they’re cheaply made and are causing inflammation. You need to go to a proper piercer and have them fit you with ones that won’t cause that.”

“How do you know it’s an allergy?” Tendou asked, both in awe of the stranger’s knowledge, and insanely relieved that there was a solution to the horrible feeling in his ears.

“I used to do piercings,” he said pulling out his wallet and removing a business card. “Go here, and tell them Semi sent you. They’ll give you the right hoops and a better cleanser than whatever you’ve been using.”

Tendou took the card and held it like it was made of the finest material known to man. Semi--he had a name and it was Semi--coughed politely. Tendou looked up and realized that he hadn’t even started making Semi’s drink. 

“Oh right, your drink!”

Semi pursed his lips in an obvious attempt to not smile and Tendou felt like his chest might burst and dropped the cup before scrambling to stop it from hitting the floor. He could hear Suga quietly laughing in the back and his neck burned from it. When his fingers brushed against Semi’s as he handed him the cup, he bit his own tongue to stop himself from saying something incredibly stupid. Something like, you’re beautiful and knowledgeable, let’s get coffee.

“His name is Semi,” Tendou loudly announced once he was sure it was just him and Suga again. “His name is Semi!”

***

Tendou cranked the radio up and sang along to the music while sweeping the floors. Saturday evenings were always slow and he usually spent the last few hours before closing time listening to music and giving the shop a good cleaning in all the little spots that sometimes got missed. He was on his knees in the back getting under the oven when he heard the front door chime.

“Be right out!” he called out, standing up to wipe his knees. He stepped over to the sink and rinsed off his hands, humming happily to the music. Fitz and the Tantrums always kept him peppy through the long shifts. 

He stopped short when he saw that his late customer was the mysterious and attractive Semi, and plastered on his best smile before approaching the counter.

“Hello Semi, this is a surprise,” he declared, and hated himself immediately for sounding so enthusiastic. He’d gotten into the habit of calling Semi by his name now that he’d learned it. He liked the smile it seemed to bring to his usually neutral expression.

“Is it?” Semi answered cooly.

“Well, you’re usually here only on the weekdays.”

“You notice that?”

“Part of the business is knowing when your regulars come in, also knowing their orders.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“So, the usual?”

Semi hummed while looking up at the overhead menu. “I think I’ll have something different tonight, how is the chai latte?”

“Amazing if I do say so myself.”

“I’ve never had chai before,” Semi replied causally, causing Tendou to sputter in shock.

“How have you never allowed your taste buds to enjoy the beauty and goodness that is chai?”

Semi raised an eyebrow and quirked his lips. “Just never tried it I guess.”

“I am making you the best damn chai latte you will ever have in your life.”

“Well how will I know it’s the best?” Semi replied with a wry grin. “I’ve never had one. For all I know I could have yours and think it’s the best. Then go to Starbucks and discover theirs is better.”

“If you go to Starbucks and decide their chai is better than mine it would break my heart,” Tendou replied gravely, placing his hand over his chest. “My poor heart Semi-Semi, could you live with yourself?”

Semi’s eyes widened briefly at the nickname and Tendou turned and began work on the latte before he could let himself think about it further. His ears burned hot with embarrassment and he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking as he prepared the beverage. He truly hoped Semi was occupied by something other than watching him make a fool of himself.

“Do you like Fitz and the Tantrums,” he asked causing Tendou’s head to pop up.

“Yeah,” Tendou answered with a smile. “They’re great.”

“They’re playing next week at that music festival, with a few others.”

“I know,” Tendou replied wistfully. “I tried to get tickets but they sold out before I even had a chance to log on.”

“I have tickets,” Semi stated plainly, his eyes not leaving Tendou’s. “I got them through work and… it would be a waste to go alone when I have two tickets.”

Tendou stared at him open mouthed, his eyes wide as his brain struggled to find a way to answer. 

“That is of course if you want to go,” Semi quickly stated in the silence, seemingly redacting his own offer.

“I do!” Tendou squealed, practically climbing over the counter. “I do want to go… with you.”

“Good,” Semi answered, before pulling out his phone. “I can give you my number and we can arrange to meet up.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Tendou nodded swiftly and put his contact info into Semi’s phone. He watched Semi walk out and having a sudden burst of inspiration he vaulted the counter and quickly ran to open the front door. 

“Semi!” he yelled to the man's retreating back. Semi turned to face him, the setting sun shining behind him creating a halo. “Is this a date?”

Semi’s mouth formed into a half grin and he chuckled. “If it’s not then everything you’ve done to get my attention was a bit of a waste then wasn’t it?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [You are out of my league ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4mbxaa3XL8)  
>  All the things I believe  
> You were just the right kind  
> Yeah, you are more than just a dream  
> You are out of my league  
> Got my heartbeat racing  
> If I die don't wake me  
> 'Cause you are more than just a dream

“What in the world are you wearing?” Suga blurted out as soon as Tendou walked through the door to Suga Sweets. 

“Clothing,” Tendou answered, chin held high. “You’ve seen it before.” 

“I have seen you dressed in each of those things yes,” Suga nodded. “I have never seen you combine them in what can only be described as an infliction on humanity.”

“Then I have succeeded in my goal, which is to set the bar as low as humanly possible.” 

The low bar consisted of magenta skinny jeans with a pearlescent sheen, a black off brand t-shirt that said ‘GUES’ in bright orange, and his signature neon green star hoodie. He’d briefly considered a snapback, but decided his new spiky look was the better way to go.

Suga raised his eyebrows and turned to Goshiki to back him up. Tendou gave Goshiki a wide smile, one that reminded him who got him this job and who was the one who had promised to train him on croissants. Goshiki paled between both their looks and ran off to the back room, ears turning pink when Suga called out ‘coward!’ to his retreating figure. “He idolizes you too much.”

Tendou shrugged and drummed his fingers on the counter. “Someone’s gotta look up to me. God knows you never will.”

“You’re wearing shiny pants!”

“I’m nervous all right!” Tendou snapped before falling back onto the balls of his feet with a sheepish look.

“It’s just a date,” Suga reminded him. “You spent how many months just trying to learn the guy’s name? Now you wanna harass him with your clothing choices and ruin any chance of a second one?”

“At least the reason will be my clothes and not,” he gestured to himself, “everything else.”

“Who are you?” Suga asked, arms folded. “I would like to know where my best friend went.”

Tendou pouted, his shoulders dropped and he looked down at his feet. Wincing at the sunshine yellow of the converse staring back at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Satori Tendou, my _best friend_. The guy who dropped law school two years in to go into business with me. The one who _convinced_ me that opening a bakery with the money from the insurance policy would be the best way to work through my grief. Where is he?”

“That’s completely different and you know it.”

“How?”

“It takes a different kind of confidence to start a business with your diner friend than it is to dress like a normal human being for a first date with a guy you have been,” he paused not even sure what the right word was for what he had been doing for months. Ogling, eyeing, coveting? In another world Tendou was cool, calm, and collected. He swept Semi off his feet from day one and never had to worry about wearing all the colors of the wind in one go for a first date. “Dunno, it’s just different okay?”

“You have a massive crush on an insanely good looking man, who asked you out on a date,” Suga said, a cup of chai appearing out of nowhere in his hands. He held it out to Tendou like a life preserver. 

"Oh god he's so pretty,” he replied, holding the cup between his hands and inhaling the wonderful smell. “I haven’t been on a date since we first opened the bakery.”

“I haven’t been on a date since college,” Suga griped back with a sigh. “That is not an invitation to hook me up,” he changed tack quickly, voice taking on a slight panic. “If Semi has a friend who is single, I am not available for double dates. I let Tooru do that to me once and it was _awful_.”

“You let Tooru Oikawa take you on a blind date, of course it was awful.”

“I mean it turned out well in the end. Issei and Takahiro are getting married next year,” Suga giggled. “They’re still fighting over which of them gets Tooru as their best man. I’m pretty sure I am invited to the wedding simply for being a part of the world’s most awkwardest double date ever.”

“One day you will explain to me how Tooru’s roommate ended up making out with his date and you then ended up feeding Tooru ice cream all night,” Tendou laughed, remembering the little bits of the story Tooru had drunkenly ranted about one night at the bar. “This was so much easier when he was just a hot guy who came in at the same time every morning, who ordered the same thing, and I did the same thing I always did. Pine after him and wonder what it would take to ever be in his league.”

His downward spiral in to self deprecation might have continued were he not suddenly thrust out out of it by a resounding smack to the back of the head. He dropped the cup of chai and jumped back before the splash could get all over his pants.

“Negativity begone!” Suga cried as he hit Tendou, brandishing a wet towel as though he would whip Tendou with it any second. Tendou was thankful for the counter in between them, though it wouldn’t surprise him in the least if Suga leapt over the damn thing to whip him mercilessly.

“You can’t just whip away years of built up insecurities that I have carefully crafted a wall of snarky overblown fake confidence around!”

“I can try!”

“Should I come back later?” 

Tendou felt his stomach drop to his feet so instantaneously he was shocked it didn’t kill him. He turned slowly and did his best not to completely fall to his knees at the sight of the perfectly poised Semi. As always he made black look like it was created for him, ripped skinny jeans tucked into mid-calf boots, and a v-neck. What did Tendou in was the fact that Semi had complimented all of it with a loose lavender shrug, the pale purple offset his hair so well it was unfair. 

“Semi,” Tendou sputtered. “Hi, no, please don’t go. Suga was just…”

“Fucking with him,” Suga interjected quickly, grabbing Goshiki and a mop, guiding both of them to the mess Tendou had left on the floor with his dropped chai. Semi watched Goshiki with mild amusement as Goshiki did his best to check him out while not making it obvious he was. Tendou bit back a gulp as that gaze then went to him. Semi’s eyes travelled from his toes to this face and back down again, his neutral expression giving away nothing. 

“Did you want a new drink before we leave?” he finally asked, breaking the silence. “I wouldn’t say no to another chai, I haven’t been able to stop thinking of the one you made me last week.”

Tendou wasn’t dense by any stretch of the imagination. In fact he prided himself on his intelligence and his ability to read people fairly well. So he was reasonably certain Semi was flirting with him. But his delivery was always so deadpan it sent all of his instincts into overdrive. He began dissecting every interaction they had had previous to this moment trying to decipher when Semi had been interested in him back. 

“Well in that case I’ll make two and you can be on your way,” Suga interjected again bringing Tendou back to the present. 

“Sounds great,” Semi answered, a small smile crossing his face as he walked closer to Tendou. “Perhaps a drink will get rid of the cat that seems to have your tongue.”

“My tongue?” Tendou sputtered before realizing that yes, Semi was definitely flirting with him and he was letting it go over his head. “Right yes, cat’s got my tongue. Just surprised to see you wearing color Semi-Semi, thought you were an all black goth type.”

Semi quirked his chin and another subtle smile appeared, Tendou was beginning to find himself incredibly enamored with that. “One does want a,” he gestured to Tendou’s appearance with a wave. “ _Hint_ , of color.”

Tendou grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. “I like to stand out.”

“I noticed.”

“Two chais!” Suga announced loudly, slamming the cups on the counter. “Thank you and have a lovely day!”

As Tendou held the door open for Semi he thought to himself, why couldn’t cool, calm, and collected Tendou exist in this world? Didn’t he already? 

He’d made a fool of himself for six months straight with odd hairstyles, questionable piercing choices, and unsubtle pining. Yet, there he was, walking down the street with the object of his not so quiet affections. And even after all that, Semi had asked him out.

“Lavender is really nice on you,” he commented as they walked down the street. “Makes your hair just… pop.”

“That neon green makes your hair even more obnoxiously red,” Semi replied. The phrase sounded like an insult, but Tendou could tell from his tone he meant it affectionately. 

The festival was in full swing by the time they got to the gates. Tendou could hear the music through the speakers and couldn’t decide if he liked the opening act. They had a good sound but the lyrics didn’t catch his notice. He and Semi walked around and checked out local vendors while telling each other about their respective lives.

“I’m an aesthetician,” Semi told him when asked about his job. Tendou did his best to act as though he knew what that meant and was only a little deflated when Semi laughed at his nodding. “It’s okay for you to say you have no idea what that is. Most people don’t.”

Tendou laughed. “Yeah, I have no clue, but I didn’t want to seem dumb.”

“The last thing you seem is dumb to me,” Semi replied, eyes trained on a handwoven scarf. “I work with skin. Mostly doing facials at a spa uptown. Ritzy place, overpriced so the ladies who come there think they are getting a higher end treatment than they would somewhere else. I also do makeup. Usually for proms and weddings. But also special effects stuff if I can snag a gig.”

“That’s pretty damn amazing,” Tendou said with a tilt to his head. Semi looked up with a surprised smile. “You do like creatures and stuff? Or just like horror things with blood and gore?”

“Both,” he answers. “Though I don’t design pieces. I do applications and work with painting the appliances themselves.” Semi looked up and balked at the open mouthed stare Tendou had frozen on his face. “What?”

“You’re pretty damn amazing you know that Semi?”

Semi pouted and gave Tendou a light hearted punch to the arm. “Shut up.”

They soon found the sangria booth and were two cups in before they even made their way to the music stage to catch another one of the opening acts. 

“Do you actually like this kind of music?” Tendou asked, sipping his third cup slowly, already feeling the affects of the first two. Semi swayed a little on his feet, polishing off the last dregs of his fourth.

“I like all types of music,” he answered, pulling a bottle of water from his bag, after chugging half he offered it to Tendou. “Did you assume I listened to The Cure and Depeche Mode?”

“I figured you probably listened to some weird obscure foreign shit that has lyrics in whatever language Lovecraft invented.”

Semi giggled, “I have yet to discover a band that uses R'lyehian.”

“You even know what it’s called.”

“You knew who he was.”

“Touche.”

They got closer and closer to the stage as each band played and finally had managed to get themselves within the crowd at the front when the headliner took the stage. Tendou alternated between cheering, singing, and sometimes drunkenly dancing along, not caring for a minute if he looked like a fool. Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of Semi smiling out of the corner of his eye. 

The opening chords to his favorite song came on and he found Semi’s fingers intertwining with his own. He pulled Semi flush to him and together they swayed to the music.

“This was playing when you asked me out,” Tendou noted. 

“It was.”

“You know it makes me think of you a lot.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “You were uhh, unattainable, out of my league completely. Pretty sure you still are. You walked into the bakery one day and just took my damn breath away.”

Semi began to laugh quietly at first, a light chuckle that soon grew into a loud giggle that had him bent over.

“Semi?”

“I… just…,” he choked out between giggles. “You work at a bakery.”

“Uhhhh yeah, you met me there.”

“You’re a ginger _bread_ man!” Semi screeched with an undignified laugh, clutching his stomach.

Tendou stared in dumbfounded silence at the way Semi’s persona crumbled around him. Gone was the poised and mysterious man with the crane tattoo who ordered his espresso with barely masked disdain. Gone was the dressed in all black goth who sneered at any color not also blood red or wine purple. Every notion Tendou had built in his mind about this man was dashed in an instant as he giggled over a dumb pun.

“If you keep laughing like that I’m going to have to fall in love with you,” Tendou blurted out.

“I give you six months before you’re tired of me,” Semi quipped back, wiping a tear from his eye. 

“I spent six months wishing I knew your name Semi-Semi,” he replied, expression solemn. 

“It’s Eita actually.”

“Eita?”

He nodded, reaching out to take Tendou’s hand again. “But, you can keep calling me Semi-Semi.”

Tendou pulled Semi to him and stroked a finger along Semi’s cheek, smiling at the way Semi’s eyelashes fluttered at the contact. “What happens if I make it to seven months?”

“I’m not sure,” Semi breathed. “I’ve never gotten anyone to stick around that long.”

“Well,” he whispered. “There’s one thing I would like to find out before I try.”

“What’s that?”

“If your lips taste as good as they look.”

“Find out then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its Tensemi Day!!!!!!!!
> 
> Also my birthday, hence why I am publishing this today.
> 
> Thank you so much to Snow for being the best beta ever, and to Vivi and Rosa for giving me Tendou's terrible fashion choices


End file.
